What’s a NormaTec? The compression therapy elite athletes love
Like cryotherapy, compression therapy has been around for decades as a medical treatment. In fact, NormaTec started as a medical device company to treat a condition called lymphedema (chronic swelling).
Now the company’s focus is athletic recovery, but its roots lie in the science of blood flow: Your circulatory system delivers oxygen, nutrients and hormones to every cell in your body. Simultaneously, this complex circuit removes metabolic wastes such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid, effectively flushing your system of toxins.
The idea behind compression therapy is that by increasing blood flow to specific parts of the body — encouraging your body to deliver more oxygen and nutrients to those areas — you can speed up recovery, relieve pain and improve athletic performance.
Benefits of compression therapy
Reducing swelling and inflammation
Speeding up muscle recovery
Preventing delayed-onset muscle soreness
Relieving muscle pain
Improving athletic performance
Increasing flexibility and range of motion
Removing exercise-related wastes, like lactic acid
Decreasing muscle fatigue
NormaTec
Worth the hype?
Personally, I think yes. Despite some wishy-washy clinical trials, these products are backed by a valid scientific principle: Compression therapy increases blood flow, which delivers nutrients to your muscles and removes waste like lactic acid. That’s why active recovery (like stretching and walking) is so much better than passive recovery (doing nothing).
